Features and Columns · TV

Exploring the Twilight Zone: Week One Wrap-Up

By  · Published on June 9th, 2011

We launched a brand new feature this week, but we didn’t do it on this site. Crazy, right? That’s just the way we roll in this new age of Mystery Boxing.

The goal is to cover all 156 episodes of the original 5-season run of The Twilight Zone, and it’s a task too big for one website. Thus, we’re partnering with the fantastic Twitch Film to get the job done. We’ll be watching every episode, and you should too.

Twitch took the first five episodes, and they knocked them out of the park. Now it’s our turn to weigh in briefly and gear up for the next five episodes. Let’s open the scary door together and walk into…dramatic pause…The Twilight Zone:

Episode 1: Where Is Everybody? — I thought Weinberg sold this episode a little short, because I always thought it was a brassy move to debut your new television series with a story where almost no dialogue takes place. Earl Holliman, starring as the man who finds himself alone in a town and slowly losing his mind, plays the part with a slow burn, and the science fiction element is definitely satisfying.

Episode 2: One For the Angels— I dig this one as much as Weinberg. Most think of The Twilight Zone as a show about trickery and oddity, but some of its less iconic tales focus on the genuine goodness of humanity. Plus, it’s impossible to dislike Ed Wynn. This has been proven by science.

Episode 3: Mr. Denton on Doomsday— Again, a less iconic episode, but one that packs a punch. The town drunk gets a chance at redemption at the end of a gun barrel, and it leads to an incredibly tense outcome.

Episode 4: The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine— A classic for film fans of all kinds (and fitting considering we covered Sunset Blvd. for Old Ass Movies today), this features an aging silent film star who withers away in front of her private screen. At this point, it seems clear that Rod Serling was obsessed with descents into madness. Or maybe Barbara Jean Trenton really does go to live with her characters inside the screen…

Head over to Twitch tomorrow to check out Episode 5: Walking Distance, and come back to FSR on Monday for Episodes 6–10 all next week.

We’ll see you there. Unless you get sucked into a movie screen.

Which early episode is your favorite?

We’re running through all 156 of the original Twilight Zone episodes over the next several weeks, and we won’t be doing it alone! Our friends at Twitch Film will be entering the Zone as well on alternating weeks. So definitely tune in over at Twitch and feel free to also follow along on twitter accounts @twitchfilm and @rejectnation.

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Movie stuff at VanityFair, Thrillist, IndieWire, Film School Rejects, and The Broken Projector Podcast@brokenprojector | Writing short stories at Adventitious.